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CNN Live Sunday
Gaston Comes Ashore; Protests Planned for Republican National Convention
Aired August 29, 2004 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: It is 11:00 a.m. in New York, where final preparations are under way for the RNC. 6:00 p.m. in Athens, Greece, place of the closing ceremonies of the summer games.
I'm Fredricka Whitfield, welcome to CNN LIVE SUNDAY. Ahead this hour, live with the latest on the protests planned at the Republican Convention.
Also, Gaston comes ashore. We'll go live where the storm is slamming the Carolina coast.
And later.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: You talk about Mayberry. Well, you know, everybody knows your name. And they know what you're doing. And they care. They genuinely care.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: How a small town is helping the families of its Iraq war heroes. But first a check of the headlines.
A deadly explosion rocks Kabul, Afghanistan, damaging the offices of international organizations and staff homes. Reuters reports at least three Americans and two Afghans are dead, and according to the Associated Press there is evidence suggesting a car bomb may have been involved. We'll have details as they become available.
Tropical storm Gaston bruised the South Carolina coast early today, flooding roads and knocking out power with winds clocked just short of hurricane strength at 70 miles per hour. We'll have a full report coming up in about 11 minutes.
In Russia, Chechen voters are electing a new leader today. Their former president was assassinated last May. There are reports a would-be bomber at a Grozny polling station died when the device went off in his hands.
The U.S. picked up another gold in boxing. Meantime, it's the men's marathon day in Athens, Greece, the final event of the summer Olympic games. We'll have a live report from Athens in about 19 minutes. Just hours from now, the curtain goes up on the Republican National Convention in New York City. And from now through Thursday, protesters will be a big part of the mix. Today, thousands of people are expected to gather for the United for Peace and Justice Rally and March. CNN's Deborah Feyerick is now with us from New York.
Hi, Deborah.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. Well, we took a walk just about a half an hour ago. The crowd stretches down about four blocks. Thousands of people from what we can at least see, both on the avenue and also the side streets, it's very difficult to navigate through all the people who are there. Protesters are carrying signs against President Bush, against the war in Iraq.
The speakers who are here include actor Danny Glover as well as New York Congressman Charles Rangel. They're talking about a range of things, but among the topics, the troops who have died in Iraq. And also, urban issues that the folks here feel are simply not being covered.
I'm joined right now by one of the demonstrators, Jessi Arrington. You're here for two reasons. First of all, why are you here to march today?
JESSI ARRINGTON, PROTESTER: Well, I'm here basically just to express my concern for this nation, and the direction that it's taking. I believe we've been misled by the Bush administration, as do most of the people here. I just want to come out and be one of the, you know, thousands upon thousands of people who believe that. So we all know that we're not alone.
FEYERICK: Now, you are also having your own demonstration tomorrow. Or something perhaps more subtle, something called Light Up the Sky. Tell me about it.
ARRINGTON: That's right. Light Up the Sky was the brainchild of Milton Glazer, who's a New Yorker, an activist, and a graphic designer. And his idea was that we needed a way to lower the rhetoric, to lower the mean-spiritedness of some of the civil discourse that goes on.
A way to do that is tomorrow night, when the lights go out, come out into the street with your own form of light. Bring a flashlight, bring a candle, get creative. And as we walk the streets in our own neighborhoods and our communities where we feel comfortable, we can just look around and see that there are other people that agree with us and want to show this administration that we don't agree with their policies.
FEYERICK: Jessi Arrington, thank you very much for joining us today.
ARRINGTON: Thank you.
FEYERICK: Clearly we're going to hear from a lot of voices over the course of the next couple of days. President Bush not expected to speak until Thursday, and yet demonstrations began two days ago. So a lot of voices out there.
Back to you, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks a lot, Deborah.
On this day before the opening gavel, Republican delegates, along with some of the party's heavy weights, are arriving in New York City. Among them, Vice President Dick Cheney. We check in now with CNN's Bob Franken at Madison Square Garden.
Hello to you, Bob.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello. Number two heavyweight, he is arriving within the next few minutes, if he goes according to schedule. Liberty State Park, and then over to Ellis Island, that symbol, of course, of the United States. And the huddled masses will all huddle in Madison Square Garden to re-nominate Vice President Cheney and President Bush. The actual nominations occur tomorrow morning.
Of course, tomorrow evening, prime-time, might I add, we start with the speeches. Rudy Giuliani, who's coming in with the vice president, will be one of the main speakers tomorrow. The former mayor considered an icon after September 11th. Also, John McCain is back in the fold and will be making his speech tomorrow night. Vice president speaks on Wednesday night. President Bush, the main man, speaks on Thursday night, as he accepts the nomination, the reason that everybody is gathering here.
Now, the security is incredibly heavy. Not only for the demonstrations, but because of the fear of something worse, some sort of attack. And that has meant that the security provides about one law enforcement official for about every two and a half people who are here for the convention. The conventioneers, all the journalists, all the other people who come to one of these events, all to be held in Madison Square Garden.
Outside Madison Square Garden, as I said, severe security, and it's going to get worse. But, like Boston, they're hoping that there was too much security and no real problems.
Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: And Bob, how close are permitted protesters allowed to be outside of the Madison Square Garden?
FRANKEN: They're going to be marching today under an agreement with the police within a few blocks of it. But they're going to be marching under the watchful eye of a massive number of police. Then the question is, what do they do when they get to Central Park.
Central Park was declared off-limits for an honest to goodness demonstration with some of the equipments that goes with the demonstration. But the city on the other hand said even though there is a big worry about the grass in Central Park, anybody has the right to be there.
So we're going to have to watch as the march goes by. Madison Square Garden is in the vicinity. Then we'll watch later in the day to see what happens at Central Park.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks a lot, Bob Franken.
As for the incumbent, President Bush will spend the day stumping in West Virginia. He is expected to tout his 20-month tariff on steel imports at an afternoon rally in Wheeling. Bush carried West Virginia four years ago, despite the state's heavy democratic registration.
Democratic rival John Kerry is taking a campaign breather in Nantucket, Massachusetts. Yesterday he told supporters in Tacoma, Washington, he's in a fighting mood. Kerry said America's dependence on Middle East oil is undermining national security.
Our coverage of the Republican National Convention continues today on "LATE EDITION." Wolf Blitzer talks with Marc Racicot, chairman of the Bush/Cheney reelection campaign. That's coming up at noon eastern, 9:00 pacific.
In Iraq today, sporadic gunfire in Najaf. But the truce appears to be holding. This while families are recovering the bodies of Iraqis killed during several weeks of fighting.
About 30 miles west of Mosul, violent clashes between U.S. forces and armed insurgents erupted overnight. 34 civilians were wounded. The military says some of it started when guerrillas fired on U.S. troops from a mosque.
In southern Iraq near Basra, insurgents blew up a cluster of oil export pipelines at dawn. It's the latest in a string of attacks targeting Iraq's oil industry.
And two French journalists were taken hostage in Iraq yesterday. Their kidnappers of demanding the French government overturn a ban on headscarves in public schools.
And we have more now from that scene of that deadly blast in Kabul, Afghanistan. The explosion was centered in an area where dozens of aid agencies are located, as well as international offices and homes. And Dr. Wahita Mayar (ph) is on the phone with us, and joining us from Kabul. Doctor, give us a sense as to what you're seeing right now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For your information, right now, I'm on the site of that explosion. This explosion happened at about 6:00 p.m. local time opposite to one of the American security companies. As a result of that car explosion, which detonated out here, Americans were killed.
As for the number of casualties, they are conflicting. The Office of Interior Ministry did not have that information.
(UNINTELLIGIBLE) There are lots of broken windows there on the site of the explosion, and it's quite (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the extent of the destruction.
WHITFIELD: All right, Doctor Wahita Mayar (ph), thanks so much for that update on the phone from Kabul, Afghanistan, where they are in the midst of investigating what appears to be a car explosion taking place in an area where an awful lot of aid workers reportedly reside and work. And thus far, according to Reuters, at least three Americans and two Afghans are dead. More on this as we get more information.
Well, Gaston hits the South Carolina coast this morning. We'll have a live report. And Rob will have your forecast. And a Laura best known for singing about "Gloria" passes on. This is CNN LIVE SUNDAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Stay indoors and stay put, that's the advice from officials as tropical storm Gaston moves across South Carolina. It's already bringing heavy winds and rains to some areas. Reporter Erin Kienzle with affiliate WCSC joins us live from Georgetown, South Carolina.
ERIN KIENZLE, WCSC REPORTER: Yes, Gaston is here, we're starting to get the outer bands of rain and winds are picking up. I'm in Georgetown, about an hour to the north of Charleston. The storm is really starting to affect us right now.
You can see behind me, the winds are onshore, so that's bringing a lot of water. We've had some problems in low-lying areas with flooding right along the boardwalk where I am. The steel mill is behind me. They were operating this morning. They've had to shut down. You can also see all of the shrimp boats are tightly tethered together, and they seem to be weathering the storm well thus far. As you look over a little further, you see just the trees whipping around with these winds.
So fortunately here in Georgetown, we're kind of on the outskirts of the strongest winds. However, as you can see, some of these wind gusts are very strong. Wind and rain, we're going to continue to get this for about the next hour or so. Right now, live from Georgetown, I'm Erin Keinzle. I'll send it back to you in Atlanta.
WHITFIELD: All right. Erin, thanks so much.
For more on Gaston and hurricane Francis, still out in the Atlantic, Rob Marciano joins us from the weather center - Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Fredricka. It has moved onshore. It is weakening. Winds down to 60 miles an hour, will continue to weaken as it moves over land. It has lost its energy source, which would be the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
Here's the eye of the thing moving just to the north of Charleston by about 40 miles, but still Charleston continues to get hammered with strong rain bands and winds still gusting to near 50 miles an hour. With those heavy rain bands, there have been flash flood watches posted through midnight tonight, and even in some of the darker areas, flash flood warnings because we've had rain in excess of four inches, and some of the rainfall rates, two inches or more per hour.
Here's a forecast track. Through eastern parts of North Carolina, Virginia, the Del Marva, it will weaken tonight. And then maybe reemerge in the Atlantic Ocean, at least as far as rain is concerned across parts of New England during the day on Tuesday. It will be kicked offshore by this front creating showers and storms along here in the past couple of days. Strong heavy rains in parts of Ohio. Behind the system, very cool. Ahead of the system, looking at hazy, hot, humid conditions across parts of New England and across parts of California. Looking at pretty nice weather there.
Daytime highs today expected. 70 in Chicago. New York 90, with the humidity feeling more like 100. So they're sweating up there. 90 degrees expected in Dallas. 82 degrees in Salt Lake City.
A bigger story, at least a bigger storm and a stronger storm. This is a category four hurricane. This is hurricane Francis. It's well out there. But now getting closer to the Caribbean, and may very well come in contact with Puerto Rico, but likely will miss it to the north. As we go towards the end of this week, it'll be closer though the U.S., and we may be talking about Francis coming in contact with the lower 48. We'll keep you posted on that.
Right now, tropical storm Gaston continues to weaken, but pounding South Carolina with heavy rain and gusty winds. Back over to you.
WHITFIELD: All right, Rob, fingers are crossed that Francis will lose steam as well. Thanks a lot.
An 80s pop star will live on through her music. Singer Laura Branigan died of a brain aneurysm Thursday in New York. The Grammy- nominated artist is best known for her 1982 platinum hit "Gloria." Branigan was just 47.
The Olympics are about to reach the finish line. We'll go live to Athens for an update of today's action, and this.
That's a look at what you'll be seeing a little bit later in Athens. CNN's Casey Wian, however, visits the small town of Adams, Oregon, where four men from a town of less than 300 answer the call to duty and head to Iraq. Their story a bit later.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Well, the Olympics is moving rapidly towards the official closing ceremonies later on today, in what's regarded as a successful summer games. The latest now from Athens and CNN's Michael Holmes.
Hello, Michael. This is one of your last live shots. I know you are sad.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We've had a great time here. It is time to come home, I think. A couple of months away is enough.
They are moving towards those closing ceremonies. In fact, they're jogging towards them. The marathon is under way. They're about three miles into the just over 26 miles, tracing that legendary route from the town of Marathon to the old stadium. Actually not coming into the new stadium, they're going to the old stadium that was used back in 1896 when the modern games were reborn.
We're expecting, as often happens in the Olympics, the Africans to dominate this event. Probably the most likely winner would be, if you're going to pick one out of this large field for this 301st medal of these Olympics, it would be Paul Tergat. He's the silver medalist of the 10,000 meters in both Atlanta and Sidney, and is the world record holder for the marathon. He's up near the lead at the moment. But it is early days yet.
And once they get done with their marathon, an hour or two from now, the closing ceremonies will start to get under way. Of course, they are, like the opening ceremonies, a closely guarded secret. We don't know much about it, but our always-reliable source, that is, our taxi driver, tells us that he expects it to celebrate Greek culture. That's what he's being told, modern culture, as opposed to the mythology of the opening ceremonies. We shall see, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And overall, Michael, are Greek authorities rather pleased with the way things have gone? At first, they had an awful lot of unsold tickets, and then it seems toward the end, or maybe the middle, by the time track and field began, they started filling up the stands.
HOLMES: Yes, that's right. I think after any Olympics, there's the inevitable postmortem, was it worth it, was it worth the money, the inconvenience. And of course, Greece had a few troubles coming up to it with being behind schedule on various construction sites.
I spoke to an analyst earlier who actually made a great analogy. He said it's like spending a fortune on a wedding for your kids, and then the next day waking up and thinking, well, should I have given the money to them for the first house? There's going to be, inevitably, a bit of chatter about that. But the feeling is here that the Greeks have running an outstanding Olympic games. Glitch-free, virtually. And everybody has really had a great time. The athletes really raving about the facilities and all of that sort of thing. So I think they're going to get a gold medal for this one, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, sounds good. Michael Holmes, it's been a pleasure having you reporting from Athens all this time. This is one of our last looks at that beautiful 2,500-year-old Parthenon behind you. Safe travels back home.
Stay with CNN for extensive convention coverage. That kicks off tonight, actually, at 8:00 eastern. An all-new "CNN PRESENTS" on the mission of George W. Bush. At 9:00 eastern, special edition of "LARRY KING LIVE," and at 10:00 eastern the RNC preview with anchors Wolf Blitzer and Judy Woodruff.
CNN LIVE SUNDAY continues in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: "RELIABLE SOURCES" is live this morning, coming to us from Madison Square Garden. And Howard Kurtz is joining us right now with a preview.
Hi, Howie.
HOWARD KURTZ, HOST, "RELIABLE SOURCES": Hi, Fredricka. Thanks very much.
Coming up, thousands of reporters descend on New York. Will they find any real news at the Republican Convention? Will they be harder on George Bush than they were on John Kerry? Will journalists ignore the speakers in favor of the protesters? And the continuing controversy over Vietnam and those swift boat ads. And John Kerry faces the press, the fake press, that is. His interview with Comedy Central's Jon Stewart. All ahead, live from the Republican Convention, next.
WHITFIELD: All right. Look forward to that. Thanks a lot, Howie.
Well, it is almost harvest time in rural Washington state. But the small town of Adams is harvesting without four of its strongest young men. They're serving in Iraq. CNN's Casey Wian reports on how the community is coping.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Adams, Oregon is the kind of place that time seems to have missed. It's a peaceful farming community of 297 people and no traffic lights. The only business on Main Street is a restaurant and general store that opened in 1885. But lately, something has changed here. Town folk say they're closer than ever.
PAT BRYSON, MAYOR, ADAMS, OREGON: We're not dramatically affected by, you know, world events. But now we are. There's four servicemen that come from this town that are headed over to Iraq. They deserve a huge amount of respect and support. There isn't much you can do to support them. They're going to go. What are you going to do? So the best thing we can do is show them.
WIAN: American flags and yellow ribbons seem to be everywhere, including these on the town square bearing the names Brian Phillips, Ryan Lehnert, and the Chase brothers, Travis and Jack.
WIAN (on camera): Four young men called up to active duty may not sound like that many, but it is when you consider the fact that the entire town of Adams only has about four dozen men between the ages of 18 and 44.
WIAN (voice-over): The Chases leave behind their wives and seven kids between them, plus siblings and parents.
WENDY CHASE, WIFE OF NATIONAL GUARDSMAN: I'm worried about it every day. Constantly wondering whether he's going to come home or not.
WIAN: Wendy says her community support goes beyond yellow ribbons.
CHASE: Everybody's come together. They've offered services in any way they can.
WIAN: Jeannie Chase expects her husband to be gone for at least a year.
JEANNIE CHASE, WIFE OF NATIONAL GUARDSMAN: We didn't realize it was going to be so long.
BRYSON: It's hard on the families. That's a lot of stress to have your children over in a foreign country where they're definitely going to get probably shot at, and possibly killed. And that's so far removed from where we live and what we do in this town, it's pretty traumatic.
WIAN: Especially since the call-up came right before harvest time in Adams. First Sergeant Ryan Lehnert didn't have time to finish the yard of his new house. His wife Jamie can't do it; she's expecting a child. So locals called a town meeting, to pitch in and finish the job.
JAMIE LEHNERT, WIFE OF NATIONAL GUARDSMAN: You talk about Mayberry. Well, you know, everybody knows your name. And they know what you're doing. And they care. They genuinely care.
WIAN: Adams even came up with a name, Operation Homeland Compassion. They hope the name and their actions spread throughout the country.
Casey Wian, CNN, Adams Oregon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Our top stories now, I'm Fredricka Whitfield. At least four Americans are killed, along with two Afghans in an explosion in Kabul. Authorities say a car blew up in front of the Interpol police headquarters. The Americans were training Afghanistan's new police force.
Tropical Storm Gaston runs out of gas, but not before soaking South Carolina. It never made hurricane strength, but Gaston blew in with about 70 mile per hour winds. Now it's down to about 60 miles per hour. And it also brought some flooding and power outages. Meantime, Hurricane Frances is brewing far out in the Atlantic, and it's right now a category four.
More news at the top of the hour, on "LATE EDITION." "RELIABLE SOURCES" begins right now. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired August 29, 2004 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: It is 11:00 a.m. in New York, where final preparations are under way for the RNC. 6:00 p.m. in Athens, Greece, place of the closing ceremonies of the summer games.
I'm Fredricka Whitfield, welcome to CNN LIVE SUNDAY. Ahead this hour, live with the latest on the protests planned at the Republican Convention.
Also, Gaston comes ashore. We'll go live where the storm is slamming the Carolina coast.
And later.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: You talk about Mayberry. Well, you know, everybody knows your name. And they know what you're doing. And they care. They genuinely care.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: How a small town is helping the families of its Iraq war heroes. But first a check of the headlines.
A deadly explosion rocks Kabul, Afghanistan, damaging the offices of international organizations and staff homes. Reuters reports at least three Americans and two Afghans are dead, and according to the Associated Press there is evidence suggesting a car bomb may have been involved. We'll have details as they become available.
Tropical storm Gaston bruised the South Carolina coast early today, flooding roads and knocking out power with winds clocked just short of hurricane strength at 70 miles per hour. We'll have a full report coming up in about 11 minutes.
In Russia, Chechen voters are electing a new leader today. Their former president was assassinated last May. There are reports a would-be bomber at a Grozny polling station died when the device went off in his hands.
The U.S. picked up another gold in boxing. Meantime, it's the men's marathon day in Athens, Greece, the final event of the summer Olympic games. We'll have a live report from Athens in about 19 minutes. Just hours from now, the curtain goes up on the Republican National Convention in New York City. And from now through Thursday, protesters will be a big part of the mix. Today, thousands of people are expected to gather for the United for Peace and Justice Rally and March. CNN's Deborah Feyerick is now with us from New York.
Hi, Deborah.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. Well, we took a walk just about a half an hour ago. The crowd stretches down about four blocks. Thousands of people from what we can at least see, both on the avenue and also the side streets, it's very difficult to navigate through all the people who are there. Protesters are carrying signs against President Bush, against the war in Iraq.
The speakers who are here include actor Danny Glover as well as New York Congressman Charles Rangel. They're talking about a range of things, but among the topics, the troops who have died in Iraq. And also, urban issues that the folks here feel are simply not being covered.
I'm joined right now by one of the demonstrators, Jessi Arrington. You're here for two reasons. First of all, why are you here to march today?
JESSI ARRINGTON, PROTESTER: Well, I'm here basically just to express my concern for this nation, and the direction that it's taking. I believe we've been misled by the Bush administration, as do most of the people here. I just want to come out and be one of the, you know, thousands upon thousands of people who believe that. So we all know that we're not alone.
FEYERICK: Now, you are also having your own demonstration tomorrow. Or something perhaps more subtle, something called Light Up the Sky. Tell me about it.
ARRINGTON: That's right. Light Up the Sky was the brainchild of Milton Glazer, who's a New Yorker, an activist, and a graphic designer. And his idea was that we needed a way to lower the rhetoric, to lower the mean-spiritedness of some of the civil discourse that goes on.
A way to do that is tomorrow night, when the lights go out, come out into the street with your own form of light. Bring a flashlight, bring a candle, get creative. And as we walk the streets in our own neighborhoods and our communities where we feel comfortable, we can just look around and see that there are other people that agree with us and want to show this administration that we don't agree with their policies.
FEYERICK: Jessi Arrington, thank you very much for joining us today.
ARRINGTON: Thank you.
FEYERICK: Clearly we're going to hear from a lot of voices over the course of the next couple of days. President Bush not expected to speak until Thursday, and yet demonstrations began two days ago. So a lot of voices out there.
Back to you, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks a lot, Deborah.
On this day before the opening gavel, Republican delegates, along with some of the party's heavy weights, are arriving in New York City. Among them, Vice President Dick Cheney. We check in now with CNN's Bob Franken at Madison Square Garden.
Hello to you, Bob.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello. Number two heavyweight, he is arriving within the next few minutes, if he goes according to schedule. Liberty State Park, and then over to Ellis Island, that symbol, of course, of the United States. And the huddled masses will all huddle in Madison Square Garden to re-nominate Vice President Cheney and President Bush. The actual nominations occur tomorrow morning.
Of course, tomorrow evening, prime-time, might I add, we start with the speeches. Rudy Giuliani, who's coming in with the vice president, will be one of the main speakers tomorrow. The former mayor considered an icon after September 11th. Also, John McCain is back in the fold and will be making his speech tomorrow night. Vice president speaks on Wednesday night. President Bush, the main man, speaks on Thursday night, as he accepts the nomination, the reason that everybody is gathering here.
Now, the security is incredibly heavy. Not only for the demonstrations, but because of the fear of something worse, some sort of attack. And that has meant that the security provides about one law enforcement official for about every two and a half people who are here for the convention. The conventioneers, all the journalists, all the other people who come to one of these events, all to be held in Madison Square Garden.
Outside Madison Square Garden, as I said, severe security, and it's going to get worse. But, like Boston, they're hoping that there was too much security and no real problems.
Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: And Bob, how close are permitted protesters allowed to be outside of the Madison Square Garden?
FRANKEN: They're going to be marching today under an agreement with the police within a few blocks of it. But they're going to be marching under the watchful eye of a massive number of police. Then the question is, what do they do when they get to Central Park.
Central Park was declared off-limits for an honest to goodness demonstration with some of the equipments that goes with the demonstration. But the city on the other hand said even though there is a big worry about the grass in Central Park, anybody has the right to be there.
So we're going to have to watch as the march goes by. Madison Square Garden is in the vicinity. Then we'll watch later in the day to see what happens at Central Park.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks a lot, Bob Franken.
As for the incumbent, President Bush will spend the day stumping in West Virginia. He is expected to tout his 20-month tariff on steel imports at an afternoon rally in Wheeling. Bush carried West Virginia four years ago, despite the state's heavy democratic registration.
Democratic rival John Kerry is taking a campaign breather in Nantucket, Massachusetts. Yesterday he told supporters in Tacoma, Washington, he's in a fighting mood. Kerry said America's dependence on Middle East oil is undermining national security.
Our coverage of the Republican National Convention continues today on "LATE EDITION." Wolf Blitzer talks with Marc Racicot, chairman of the Bush/Cheney reelection campaign. That's coming up at noon eastern, 9:00 pacific.
In Iraq today, sporadic gunfire in Najaf. But the truce appears to be holding. This while families are recovering the bodies of Iraqis killed during several weeks of fighting.
About 30 miles west of Mosul, violent clashes between U.S. forces and armed insurgents erupted overnight. 34 civilians were wounded. The military says some of it started when guerrillas fired on U.S. troops from a mosque.
In southern Iraq near Basra, insurgents blew up a cluster of oil export pipelines at dawn. It's the latest in a string of attacks targeting Iraq's oil industry.
And two French journalists were taken hostage in Iraq yesterday. Their kidnappers of demanding the French government overturn a ban on headscarves in public schools.
And we have more now from that scene of that deadly blast in Kabul, Afghanistan. The explosion was centered in an area where dozens of aid agencies are located, as well as international offices and homes. And Dr. Wahita Mayar (ph) is on the phone with us, and joining us from Kabul. Doctor, give us a sense as to what you're seeing right now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For your information, right now, I'm on the site of that explosion. This explosion happened at about 6:00 p.m. local time opposite to one of the American security companies. As a result of that car explosion, which detonated out here, Americans were killed.
As for the number of casualties, they are conflicting. The Office of Interior Ministry did not have that information.
(UNINTELLIGIBLE) There are lots of broken windows there on the site of the explosion, and it's quite (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the extent of the destruction.
WHITFIELD: All right, Doctor Wahita Mayar (ph), thanks so much for that update on the phone from Kabul, Afghanistan, where they are in the midst of investigating what appears to be a car explosion taking place in an area where an awful lot of aid workers reportedly reside and work. And thus far, according to Reuters, at least three Americans and two Afghans are dead. More on this as we get more information.
Well, Gaston hits the South Carolina coast this morning. We'll have a live report. And Rob will have your forecast. And a Laura best known for singing about "Gloria" passes on. This is CNN LIVE SUNDAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Stay indoors and stay put, that's the advice from officials as tropical storm Gaston moves across South Carolina. It's already bringing heavy winds and rains to some areas. Reporter Erin Kienzle with affiliate WCSC joins us live from Georgetown, South Carolina.
ERIN KIENZLE, WCSC REPORTER: Yes, Gaston is here, we're starting to get the outer bands of rain and winds are picking up. I'm in Georgetown, about an hour to the north of Charleston. The storm is really starting to affect us right now.
You can see behind me, the winds are onshore, so that's bringing a lot of water. We've had some problems in low-lying areas with flooding right along the boardwalk where I am. The steel mill is behind me. They were operating this morning. They've had to shut down. You can also see all of the shrimp boats are tightly tethered together, and they seem to be weathering the storm well thus far. As you look over a little further, you see just the trees whipping around with these winds.
So fortunately here in Georgetown, we're kind of on the outskirts of the strongest winds. However, as you can see, some of these wind gusts are very strong. Wind and rain, we're going to continue to get this for about the next hour or so. Right now, live from Georgetown, I'm Erin Keinzle. I'll send it back to you in Atlanta.
WHITFIELD: All right. Erin, thanks so much.
For more on Gaston and hurricane Francis, still out in the Atlantic, Rob Marciano joins us from the weather center - Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Fredricka. It has moved onshore. It is weakening. Winds down to 60 miles an hour, will continue to weaken as it moves over land. It has lost its energy source, which would be the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
Here's the eye of the thing moving just to the north of Charleston by about 40 miles, but still Charleston continues to get hammered with strong rain bands and winds still gusting to near 50 miles an hour. With those heavy rain bands, there have been flash flood watches posted through midnight tonight, and even in some of the darker areas, flash flood warnings because we've had rain in excess of four inches, and some of the rainfall rates, two inches or more per hour.
Here's a forecast track. Through eastern parts of North Carolina, Virginia, the Del Marva, it will weaken tonight. And then maybe reemerge in the Atlantic Ocean, at least as far as rain is concerned across parts of New England during the day on Tuesday. It will be kicked offshore by this front creating showers and storms along here in the past couple of days. Strong heavy rains in parts of Ohio. Behind the system, very cool. Ahead of the system, looking at hazy, hot, humid conditions across parts of New England and across parts of California. Looking at pretty nice weather there.
Daytime highs today expected. 70 in Chicago. New York 90, with the humidity feeling more like 100. So they're sweating up there. 90 degrees expected in Dallas. 82 degrees in Salt Lake City.
A bigger story, at least a bigger storm and a stronger storm. This is a category four hurricane. This is hurricane Francis. It's well out there. But now getting closer to the Caribbean, and may very well come in contact with Puerto Rico, but likely will miss it to the north. As we go towards the end of this week, it'll be closer though the U.S., and we may be talking about Francis coming in contact with the lower 48. We'll keep you posted on that.
Right now, tropical storm Gaston continues to weaken, but pounding South Carolina with heavy rain and gusty winds. Back over to you.
WHITFIELD: All right, Rob, fingers are crossed that Francis will lose steam as well. Thanks a lot.
An 80s pop star will live on through her music. Singer Laura Branigan died of a brain aneurysm Thursday in New York. The Grammy- nominated artist is best known for her 1982 platinum hit "Gloria." Branigan was just 47.
The Olympics are about to reach the finish line. We'll go live to Athens for an update of today's action, and this.
That's a look at what you'll be seeing a little bit later in Athens. CNN's Casey Wian, however, visits the small town of Adams, Oregon, where four men from a town of less than 300 answer the call to duty and head to Iraq. Their story a bit later.
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WHITFIELD: Well, the Olympics is moving rapidly towards the official closing ceremonies later on today, in what's regarded as a successful summer games. The latest now from Athens and CNN's Michael Holmes.
Hello, Michael. This is one of your last live shots. I know you are sad.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We've had a great time here. It is time to come home, I think. A couple of months away is enough.
They are moving towards those closing ceremonies. In fact, they're jogging towards them. The marathon is under way. They're about three miles into the just over 26 miles, tracing that legendary route from the town of Marathon to the old stadium. Actually not coming into the new stadium, they're going to the old stadium that was used back in 1896 when the modern games were reborn.
We're expecting, as often happens in the Olympics, the Africans to dominate this event. Probably the most likely winner would be, if you're going to pick one out of this large field for this 301st medal of these Olympics, it would be Paul Tergat. He's the silver medalist of the 10,000 meters in both Atlanta and Sidney, and is the world record holder for the marathon. He's up near the lead at the moment. But it is early days yet.
And once they get done with their marathon, an hour or two from now, the closing ceremonies will start to get under way. Of course, they are, like the opening ceremonies, a closely guarded secret. We don't know much about it, but our always-reliable source, that is, our taxi driver, tells us that he expects it to celebrate Greek culture. That's what he's being told, modern culture, as opposed to the mythology of the opening ceremonies. We shall see, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And overall, Michael, are Greek authorities rather pleased with the way things have gone? At first, they had an awful lot of unsold tickets, and then it seems toward the end, or maybe the middle, by the time track and field began, they started filling up the stands.
HOLMES: Yes, that's right. I think after any Olympics, there's the inevitable postmortem, was it worth it, was it worth the money, the inconvenience. And of course, Greece had a few troubles coming up to it with being behind schedule on various construction sites.
I spoke to an analyst earlier who actually made a great analogy. He said it's like spending a fortune on a wedding for your kids, and then the next day waking up and thinking, well, should I have given the money to them for the first house? There's going to be, inevitably, a bit of chatter about that. But the feeling is here that the Greeks have running an outstanding Olympic games. Glitch-free, virtually. And everybody has really had a great time. The athletes really raving about the facilities and all of that sort of thing. So I think they're going to get a gold medal for this one, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, sounds good. Michael Holmes, it's been a pleasure having you reporting from Athens all this time. This is one of our last looks at that beautiful 2,500-year-old Parthenon behind you. Safe travels back home.
Stay with CNN for extensive convention coverage. That kicks off tonight, actually, at 8:00 eastern. An all-new "CNN PRESENTS" on the mission of George W. Bush. At 9:00 eastern, special edition of "LARRY KING LIVE," and at 10:00 eastern the RNC preview with anchors Wolf Blitzer and Judy Woodruff.
CNN LIVE SUNDAY continues in a moment.
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WHITFIELD: "RELIABLE SOURCES" is live this morning, coming to us from Madison Square Garden. And Howard Kurtz is joining us right now with a preview.
Hi, Howie.
HOWARD KURTZ, HOST, "RELIABLE SOURCES": Hi, Fredricka. Thanks very much.
Coming up, thousands of reporters descend on New York. Will they find any real news at the Republican Convention? Will they be harder on George Bush than they were on John Kerry? Will journalists ignore the speakers in favor of the protesters? And the continuing controversy over Vietnam and those swift boat ads. And John Kerry faces the press, the fake press, that is. His interview with Comedy Central's Jon Stewart. All ahead, live from the Republican Convention, next.
WHITFIELD: All right. Look forward to that. Thanks a lot, Howie.
Well, it is almost harvest time in rural Washington state. But the small town of Adams is harvesting without four of its strongest young men. They're serving in Iraq. CNN's Casey Wian reports on how the community is coping.
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CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Adams, Oregon is the kind of place that time seems to have missed. It's a peaceful farming community of 297 people and no traffic lights. The only business on Main Street is a restaurant and general store that opened in 1885. But lately, something has changed here. Town folk say they're closer than ever.
PAT BRYSON, MAYOR, ADAMS, OREGON: We're not dramatically affected by, you know, world events. But now we are. There's four servicemen that come from this town that are headed over to Iraq. They deserve a huge amount of respect and support. There isn't much you can do to support them. They're going to go. What are you going to do? So the best thing we can do is show them.
WIAN: American flags and yellow ribbons seem to be everywhere, including these on the town square bearing the names Brian Phillips, Ryan Lehnert, and the Chase brothers, Travis and Jack.
WIAN (on camera): Four young men called up to active duty may not sound like that many, but it is when you consider the fact that the entire town of Adams only has about four dozen men between the ages of 18 and 44.
WIAN (voice-over): The Chases leave behind their wives and seven kids between them, plus siblings and parents.
WENDY CHASE, WIFE OF NATIONAL GUARDSMAN: I'm worried about it every day. Constantly wondering whether he's going to come home or not.
WIAN: Wendy says her community support goes beyond yellow ribbons.
CHASE: Everybody's come together. They've offered services in any way they can.
WIAN: Jeannie Chase expects her husband to be gone for at least a year.
JEANNIE CHASE, WIFE OF NATIONAL GUARDSMAN: We didn't realize it was going to be so long.
BRYSON: It's hard on the families. That's a lot of stress to have your children over in a foreign country where they're definitely going to get probably shot at, and possibly killed. And that's so far removed from where we live and what we do in this town, it's pretty traumatic.
WIAN: Especially since the call-up came right before harvest time in Adams. First Sergeant Ryan Lehnert didn't have time to finish the yard of his new house. His wife Jamie can't do it; she's expecting a child. So locals called a town meeting, to pitch in and finish the job.
JAMIE LEHNERT, WIFE OF NATIONAL GUARDSMAN: You talk about Mayberry. Well, you know, everybody knows your name. And they know what you're doing. And they care. They genuinely care.
WIAN: Adams even came up with a name, Operation Homeland Compassion. They hope the name and their actions spread throughout the country.
Casey Wian, CNN, Adams Oregon.
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WHITFIELD: Our top stories now, I'm Fredricka Whitfield. At least four Americans are killed, along with two Afghans in an explosion in Kabul. Authorities say a car blew up in front of the Interpol police headquarters. The Americans were training Afghanistan's new police force.
Tropical Storm Gaston runs out of gas, but not before soaking South Carolina. It never made hurricane strength, but Gaston blew in with about 70 mile per hour winds. Now it's down to about 60 miles per hour. And it also brought some flooding and power outages. Meantime, Hurricane Frances is brewing far out in the Atlantic, and it's right now a category four.
More news at the top of the hour, on "LATE EDITION." "RELIABLE SOURCES" begins right now. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
